Or Not

When circumstances are difficult and tension is mounting many people respond with the answer, "everything will work itself out" and "everything will be fine." While these are meant to bring us comfort in trying times and even deliver some hope, they aren't necessarily true. Things might work out to our liking and ease the tension we are feeling OR they won't. The question is: what will we do when things don't work out? Will we abandon our faith? Will we look for someone to blame for the lack of satisfaction? Will we spiral downwards into depression, guilt, and anger?

The truth is that sometimes things will get better OR they won't. We might be able to influence part of what happens, but we are really only able to completely control our reactions. I'm not sure that accepting this truth automatically brings peace. Hopefully we'll learn through repeated trials that our response to good and bad outcomes is the key to our faith development and personal maturity.